Bethlehem CP 300, Flying CP at the entrance to the tunnel road, El Khader, DCO Etzion,

Bethlehem. Tuesday PM, 18-01-05Observers: Yael Israeli, Judith S. and Ilana D. (reporting)From 13:30 till 19:00 (including lots of coffee, tea and cookies)Judith S. joined us because she has many friends in Wallaje and wanted toinvestigate the situation after the house demolitions.At Bethlehem CP 300 we saw a couple of shepherds with their sheep and goats crossingthe gardens of Tantur, also a few Palestinian workers. In freezing cold windtwo volunteers of the Ministry of Tourism were handing out bags of candy toArmenian pilgrims who were visiting Bethlehem on the occasion of theArmenian New Year.They were not interested in our work. An Egged bus on itsway to Rachel's tomb bypassed the line of waiting cars and almost ran usover. Some settler women cursed us as they passed on foot, the BP-commanderZoher joked about their attitude. The atmosphere appeared relaxed and thechecking was fast.As we approached the tunnel road we noticed a huge entanglement of held-upcars. All vehicles turning into road 60 direction South were checked if theylooked suspicious, i.e. if the driver had 'oriental' features. Some busesand a number of cabs were parked near the bus stops of the EtzionSettlements and all Id's were checked and the numbers written down, ratherslowly. Some drivers told us that they had already waited for almost twohours. However, as we were watching most Id's were returned and the numberof waiting vehicles diminished. When we wanted to leave one of the busdrivers begged us to remain ('Please, don't go yet; things move much fasterwhen you are around'). Two workers who had permits for Modi'in, but not forJerusalem, were taken out of a cab and told to wait in the cold. "How are wesupposed to get to Modi'in? Fly there?" They were given Moked cards in casethe wait would be too long. Needless to say the settlers' cars bypassed theentanglement, crossing the white line and raced south. Some Palestiniansalso tried their luck when the soldier seemed busy. One car (with a motherand new-born baby next to the driver) didn't stop and the soldier called hissuperiors re a 'suspicious' station wagon.Al Khadr was busy and crowded. No army presence whatsoever.At the Etzion DCO there were very few people. Three windows were open inaddition to that of the police. We heard no complaints and it looked as ifeveryone got what he wanted. A man showed us an invitation (in Hebrew) hehad just received, to be investigated by the Security Service on January 31.The doors were closed and it was actually much warmer than outside. We leftwhen there were no more people.On our way to Wallaje we passed another flying CP before the Beit JallaDCO-checkpoint. Nachal soldiers who were very polite, stopped all cars andcalled in the numbers of the Id's. It was cold and they agreed to releasetwo pedestrians who could not take shelter in a car. We waited for about 20minutes until all papers were returned and proceeded to Wallaje where we hadan appointment with Mostafa. He received us upstairs where the heat wasalmost oppressive and we were served coffee, tea and then instant coffeewith milk and lots of biscuits, while he tried to explain the intricacies ofthe situation of the Wallaje population. It is clear that the problems arepolitical, but also that the village apparently does not intend to show aunited front in its fight against the authorities. The six buildingsdemolished the previous day were all shacks or chicken coops, where nopeople lived. Nevertheless the writing is on the wall. Their lawyer EitanPeleg has been helpful and is continuing to do his best. Another bus fromthe same company had just been impounded too and we saw people walking downon their way from the market with their holiday shopping. Mostafa is a friend ofAbdullah Abu Daoud who turned out to be a close acquaintance of Judith andthey embraced. It was already dark when they both took us around the villageand we couldn't see anything. The ride's main purpose was for us to visitalso with Abdullah (more tea and pastries baked already for the upcomingEid) and meet with his family. It turned out that Aya and Tami had beenthere in the morning and filmed his extended family.We were asked to come again and they wanted to arrange meeting with othermembers of their Committee and include Edna, the security officer of HarGiloh who proved such a wonderful woman (taking pregnant women in her car tothe hospital whenever there was a curfew, etc.), but we stressed that ourgroup could not do much. We came to the conclusion that they are pleased tojust see us and appreciate our sympathetic attention, without expecting anymiracles.